From Wall Street to AI: Alec Crawford on Risk Management, Market Mechanics, and Tech Innovation
In this inaugural episode of TREUSSARD TALKS, Jonathan Treussard sits down with Alec Crawford—a seasoned Wall Street veteran turned tech entrepreneur—to discuss risk management, the hidden mechanics of financial markets, and what happens when systems break down under stress.
The conversation traces Alec's journey from computer science prodigy to Wall Street risk manager navigating the 2008 financial crisis, and ultimately to his current venture building AI governance solutions. Alec shares hard-won insights from decades in finance about what really matters when markets panic: funding agreements, trade settlement, custody arrangements, and the critical importance of imagining failure before it happens.
This episode cuts through the abstraction of "risk management" to reveal the concrete, practical knowledge that separates those who survive crises from those who don't. Whether you're managing personal wealth or institutional portfolios, Alec's framework for thinking about market plumbing, behavioral traps, and crisis preparation offers actionable wisdom grounded in real-world experience.
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What We Cover in This Conversation
How Jonathan and Alec met during the 2008 financial crisis at Ziff Brothers Investments
Alec's career arc from Harvard computer science to Wall Street quantitative finance
The philosophy of risk management: "failure of risk management is failure of imagination"
What breaks during financial crises—funding, trade settlement, custody, and liquidity
Why market "plumbing" matters more than most investors realize
The psychology of crisis behavior: reputation versus survival mode
Meme stocks, social media investing, and dangerous incentive structures
Alec's return to technology: founding Artificial Intelligence Risk Inc. to solve AI governance challenges
Key Takeaways
Failure of risk management is failure of imagination. Reading history (like "Manias, Panics, and Crashes") helps you imagine scenarios that haven't happened in your lifetime but could happen tomorrow. Pre-mortems and playbooks prepared in calm times become critical when panic hits.
Market plumbing breaks down when you need it most. Wire transfers fail, trades get broken, margin requirements change overnight, and custody agreements that seemed bulletproof reveal gaps. Understanding funding agreements, segregation of assets, and counterparty relationships isn't academic—it determines survival.
Control your timeline or someone else will. Leverage transforms a manageable drawdown into a forced liquidation at the worst possible price. The difference between $100 of stocks declining to $70 (you wait and recover) versus $100 of stocks with $80 borrowed (you're liquidated) is the difference between temporary pain and permanent loss.
Incentives explain everything. When salespeople get paid for moving product, they'll move product—even if it's toxic. When social media influencers get paid for eyeballs, they'll maximize eyeballs—even if their advice bankrupts followers. Always ask: what is this person paid to do?
Focus on what you can control in uncertain times. Politics, AI disruption, market volatility—much of what dominates headlines is beyond your control. Focus on long-term strategy, proper risk management, and decisions within your sphere of influence rather than spinning yourself up over things you can't change.
Timestamps
00:00 - Welcome and how Jonathan and Alec met (New Orleans, food poisoning, beignets)
03:00 - Alec's background: Harvard computer science, joining Ziff Brothers in 2008
04:00 - Growing up in New York, boarding school at Groton, early passion for computers
07:00 - Career on Wall Street: First Boston, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, mortgage-backed securities
09:00 - Transition to buy-side risk management, baptism by fire during 2008 crisis
11:00 - Risk management philosophy: failure of imagination and reading "Manias, Panics, and Crashes"
13:00 - Pre-mortems, playbooks, and the "font 50 on the fridge" principle
15:00 - What breaks during crises: wires, trades, funding agreements, plumbing
18:00 - Futures markets refusing limit orders, margin requirement changes, Lehman custody nightmare
20:00 - JP Morgan commingling customer funds—even good institutions make mistakes
22:00 - Reputation versus survival: when relationships break down in panic
23:00 - Goldman Sachs as private partnership versus public company, incentive changes
24:00 - Sales pressure during crisis: being pitched sketchy CMBS by former colleagues
27:00 - Mortgage REITs losing on both legs of hedges—when models fail
30:00 - Psychology of markets: meme stocks, Reddit investors, dangerous social media advice
32:00 - Retiring from Lord Abbett, playing golf, then founding AI governance company
33:00 - The Alexa "order lunch/launch nukes" cartoon and AI risk
35:00 - Building Artificial Intelligence Risk Inc., teaching himself Python, going to market
37:00 - Rapid-fire questions: favorite word (accelerate), least favorite (sludge), curse word
39:00 - Final advice: focus on long term, control what you can, stay safe
About Alec Crawford
Alec Crawford is CEO and Co-Founder of Artificial Intelligence Risk Inc., where he applies decades of financial risk management expertise to AI governance, helping organizations implement AI safely and responsibly. Previously, he spent a decade as Head of Risk Management at Lord Abbett and was a senior risk manager at Ziff Brothers Investments during the 2008 financial crisis. His Wall Street career spans Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, RBS Greenwich Capital, and First Boston, where he worked on mortgage-backed securities and quantitative trading. Alec holds a computer science degree from Harvard—one of the first such degrees the university awarded—and combines deep technical knowledge with hard-won practical wisdom about what really matters when systems are under stress.
Learn more at aicrisk.com
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Disclaimer
The content of "Treussard Talks" is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Treussard Capital Management or its affiliates. Consult your own financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclosures, visit treussard.com.